In the machine-to-machine communications field, referred to as M2M for short, machines are often accessible from a main network via a communications gateway between this main network and a secondary network or capillary network. Depending on the complexity of the network, it is sometimes necessary to cross a plurality of secondary networks in order to communicate with the machine.
A machine belonging to a secondary network is addressable and identifiable in a unique manner from a device which manages this secondary network. However, a machine of this type is not necessarily addressable from a different network or a different secondary network, either because the addressing technology of one machine varies from one secondary network to another, or because the identifier used to identify the machine in its secondary connection network is used for a different machine in a different secondary network.
In view of the prior art, inventors have thus noted a need for a generic mechanism for communicating with machines which can be applied regardless of the number of levels of sub-networks present and regardless of the addressing technologies used in these different sub-networks.
One of the objects of the invention is to correct these deficiencies and disadvantages of the prior art and/or make improvements to them.